Henry Clover, Jr. (Prime Earth)

Gotham
Mainstream Universe‎‎, 2011‎-present
Gallery
Real Name	Henry Clover, Jr.
Main Alias	Gotham
Other Aliases	Bane
Relatives	Henry Clover, Sr. (father, deceased) Mary Clover (mother, deceased) Claire Clover (sister)
Affiliation	Formerly Task Force Z, Batman Family
Base Of Operations	Gotham City
Status
Alignment	Neutral
Identity	Secret Identity
Citizenship	American
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Vigilante
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Blue
Hair	Brown
Origin
Universe	Prime Earth
Creators	Tom King · David Finch
First Appearance	DCU: Rebirth #1 (July, 2016)
Appearance of Death	Batman Vol 3 #65 (April, 2019)

I know I need to be better. We want to be better. We're not here to challenge you or anything. We're here to help this city. My city. Our city.

— Gotham

Gotham was a metahuman crimefighter operating in Gotham City and the partner of Gotham Girl.

History

Origins

When he was young, Batman saved Hank and his parents from a robber in Park Row. The incident inspired Hank, and his sister Claire, to dedicate much of their lives to helping the city. They used their parent's fortune to help those less fortunate, along with training their bodies and brains equally. Charity work brought them overseas, where they purchased their powers.

Gotham's Fall

Gotham and Gotham Girl made their first public appearance helping Batman save a commercial plane from a Kobra Cult terrorist attack. As they were young and inexperienced, Batman decided to take them under his wing and helped them become better heroes. In one of his first battles against the rouges of Gotham City, Gotham nearly defeated Solomon Grundy. This feat managed to impress even Batman, who complimented the younger hero's ability.

Gotham and Gotham Girl responded to another terrorist attack, this time the bombing of a bridge. With the help of Batman, they rescued the pedestrians on the bridge and flew off towards another explosion. However, at the site of the second explosion the two entered a crossfire between agents working for Amanda Waller, and Hugo Strange and Psycho-Pirate, who had mind controlled Waller's men. Psycho-Pirate then used his powers on Gotham, filling him with rage. Gotham lashed out and slaughtered twenty-seven of Waller's men. After the carnage, Gotham made the mistake of taking off his mask, which pushed the last survivor to track down and murder his parents. When Gotham realized what happened, he defied Batman and killed the soldier.

Psycho-Pirate's manipulation led Gotham to believe that the city was incurable, and he began a rampage. Batman began to throw everything he could at Gotham, but as the older vigilante was quickly overpowered, the Justice League was called in to help. While Gotham was at first taken by surprise, he quickly regained his focus and fully utilized his power to achieve near god-like strength. He defeated the entire Justice League, before being attacked and killed by his own sister.

Resurrection

Hank was first revived when Claire pumped his body full of a new form of venom. Unfortunately, his body couldn't take it and he died once again.

Decoy Bane

However, his body was recovered and Bane used it as a double when faking his own death in the "A-Day" attack. His body was then taken from Arkham and placed under the care of Two-Face, who was experimenting with Lazarus Resin. Using the resin, venom, and the telepathic powers of The Thinker, Hank entered into a zombie-like state of life. However, he fully believed himself to be the original Bane. As Bane, Hank worked for Two-Face on "Task Force Z", a team of undead villains led by Red Hood. After working together on several missions, Red Hood sought revenge on Bane for the death of Alfred Pennyworth. Believing Hank to be the original Bane, Red Hood kicked him off a roof. But despite the damage done, his body was recovered and restored to a fighting state.

Eventually, Task Force Z were led into a trap. A renegade Mister Bloom activated chip implants to push Hank into a violent rampage. He was defeated and brought to Powers International, where he had his memories restored. Shortly after his return was made public, Hank reunited with his sister Claire. As the two were discussing Hank's current state of being, Red Hood launched an assault on Powers International Headquarters. Recognizing the man who pushed him off a roof, Hank flew into a rage and lashed out. Working with the others on Bloom's team, Hank was able to quickly subdue Red Hood, but the vigilante activated a bomb and brought the headquarters tumbling down. Following Red Hood to the ground, Hank snapped out of his rage and turned his anger towards the one who really hurt him: Bloom. With help from Claire and Two-Face, Hank overpowered Bloom and defeated him. After the battle, Hank was presented with the choice to use the rest of the Lazarus resin to fully resurrect himself. However, he turned down the offer, instead opting to spend the next few days with his sister and then once again return to the grave.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Ultra Powers: Through unknown means, Gotham purchased a set of metahuman powers for himself that was tied to his life force. The strength of his abilities fluctuated with the amount of his life energy he applied to them; the greater the sacrifice, the more powerful he became.
  • Flight
  • Heat Vision: Gotham can shoot concentrated beams of heat from his eyes.
  • Invulnerability: Gotham could endure extreme physical damage, such as getting thrown into the Statue of Justice by Solomon Grundy. He was also barely fazed by the Batmobile and the Batplane crashing into him and several Batarangs exploding on him.
  • Superhuman Stamina: Gotham was capable of defeating the entire Justice League with his bare hands without ever straining himself once, even when he was running faster than the Flash.
  • Superhuman Reflexes
  • Superhuman Speed: Gotham's speed was so high that he was able to keep up with the Flash, eventually outrun him and then render him unconscious in one single hit.
  • Superhuman Strength: Gotham was capable of tremendous feats of strength, including holding up the collapsing Vincefinkle Bridge and hurling a steel girder through the Batmobile. By shortening his life span, Gotham was even able to overpower Superman and render him unconscious with just a few individual punches and punch through Cyborg's chest during his battle with the Justice League.
  • Ultra Vision

Weaknesses

• Power Limitation: Each use of Gotham's metahuman powers would shave time off his lifespan. To elevate the potency of his abilities, Gotham had to expend a greater amount of his life, hastening his death.

Related

• 31 Appearances of Henry Clover, Jr. (Prime Earth)
• 33 Images featuring Henry Clover, Jr. (Prime Earth)
• 4 Quotations by or about Henry Clover, Jr. (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Henry Clover, Jr. (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Batman Family member This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Batman, and a member of the Batman Family. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Batman Family members" category.

Batman Villain(s) This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

Flash Villain(s) This character, team, or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of any or all of the various incarnations of the Flash. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Flash Villains."

Suicide Squad member This character is or was a member of the Suicide Squad, a team of imprisoned super-villains who perform high-risk missions for the U.S. Government in exchange for commuted sentences, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Suicide Squad members" category.